As part of my Victober Reads, I decided to read The Dead Alive by Wilkie Collins as part of the Read a Victorian novel where a plot is afoot category! This novella was one of Collins’s earlier works and is supposedly based on a true story, based on the Broon Brother murder case.

The plot unlike other Collin’s plots, is based away from England and set in rural America.Philip Lefrank, an overworked and now sick lawyer is advised by his doctors to take a break from work for the sake of his health. He therefore sets off to America to visit some cousins of his who run a farm – The Medowcroft of the Morwick Farm. He arrives at Morwick station and is met my Issac Medowcroft’s eldest son – Ambrose, who appears to be a handsome and personable individual and who entertains Lefrank with interesting and candid conversation all the way to their journey to the Mrowick Farm.There he finally meets his host and the patriarch of the family Issac Medowcroft, his daughter, his daughter, a grim faced unhappy looking Miss Medowcroft and their cousin, Naomi Colebrook, with whom Ambrose seemed to be in love. The atmosphere of the house seemed strained and Lefrank was glad to retire to his own room. When he came down for dinner that night, he was introduced to the younger brother Silas and yet another person, John Jago who apparently ran the farm on behalf of Issac Medowcroft. It is soon apparent to Lefrank that things are not as they seem and there are tensions and undercurrents at play in between the Medowcroft household. The brothers do not like John Jago who seems to have the good opinion and trust of the elder Medowcroft and Miss Medowcroft for sure did not like Naomi Colebrook. After dinner, Naomi, seeks an interview with Lefrank and shares her angst about the continuing tension and unpleasantness in the household and seeks his help in trying to speak to the brothers. It is at this point John Jago approaches Naomi and requests to speak to her, to which Naomi agrees, setting of a series of events, with unforeseen results.

This is not perhaps one of the best works of Collin’s and it lacks the plot tenacity of The Moonstone or the Women in White. But it is Collin’s and till the end, you are kept guessing what and who? The ensemble of characters like all of Collin’s works have a large range -the now enfeebled patriarch, the angry woman scorned, the gentle heroine, the good brother and the weakling and the strange outsider. You name it and they are all there and they are woven so well in the plot that it seems like taking even one of them out would leave a gaping hole in the narrative.The women do seem to verge at two ends of the spectrum, but this was a Victorian man writing the novel and allowances have to be made for that day and age! The narrative without doubt the tale is kind of uni-dimensional. the length of the novella and the vivid characterization ensures that the story does not come across as flat. It straight forward no frills and no gore writing that brings the reader to the climatic end, smoothly and tries up the lose ends cleanly.

Finally, we are at the end of the Madness, aka,Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon. I cannot believe that 24 hours are over already! To say I will miss it is an understatement and I will count days until the April event comes along! This was MAGNIFICENT and so very unique, that I am still in a kind of awe of it! Don’t get me wrong, I have read through the nights many times, but this rush was something out of the world. This sense of so many readers all over the world reading together,different time zones, different genres, but united by books is so out of the world that it takes one’s breathe away!One of the most memorable events of virtual reading/blogging lives.

Now for the closing survey –

1.Which hour was most daunting for you?

Afternoon! Nights I can manage, but Sunday afternoon after a good lunch is always a snooze time

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

Depending on the interest of the readers, I would recommend,the following

History – The Wonder that was India by AL Basham

Literary – The Book of Snobs by WM Thackeray

Historical Fiction – The Source by James Michener

Chick Lit – Kissing Toads by Jemma Harvey

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next season?

I think you all are doing an awesome job! Just perfect!

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?

This is my first readathon, so cannot say much, but your tips on preparing for the readathon really really helped in keeping me going

5.How many books did you read?

2.5 😀

6.What were the names of the books you read?

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Land of the Seven Rivers by Sanjeev Sanyal

Halfway through – The Book of Snobs by WM Thackeray

7. Which book did you enjoy most?

Toss up between Land of Seven Rivers and the Book of Snobs

8. Which did you enjoy least?

Least is a reletive term, but I felt The Girl on the Train was kind of cliched

9. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest chance of participation, I would say 20!! Since I am still kind of new to the game, I would say, I will stick to being a participant reader for now!

Like I said, this is the end my friend! However before I close this post, a big thank you to Cleo and Brona for keeping me going and cheering me on! Finally, to the bestest hostesses in the world at Dewey’s @estellasrevenge and @capriciousreadr for your innovation, energy and passion! You guys seriously rock!!

Take on the Book – intriguing. Seems to be veering around cliches but yet not fall into them. Difficulty in developing empathy for the protagonist; but its getting better so one never knows!

Snacks Update -Water & Nuts

Update 2

Hour 4 – 20:40 IST

Still on The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins.

Page 201 of 323

Take on the Book – Still intriguing. Cannot like the protagonist; she goes around doing nasty things and then cannot believe she has done it! No idea why everyone has patience with her! Plot line seems to go around traditional damsel-in-distress-syndrome where only a strong but have suffered much man can redeem the protagonist. If I was not curious as to who the killer is, I would have barfed by now! But I plod on!

Snacks Update – Butter Milk – the bestest drink in India!

Update 3

Hour 6.5 – 00:00 IST

Finished The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins.

Thinking of Starting The Book of Snobs by WM Thackery and then varying the pace even more by also starting on the Land of Seven Rivers by Sandeep Sanyal

Take on the Book – Some bits cliches and some bit contrived but still very readable, at least a good one time, curl up and read it on kind of read. There are parts that you get completely hooked on to as well plot turns that are clever and your appreciate the craftsmanship of it it! But not startlingly HAVE TO READ variety!

Snacks Update – Took a break and had Dinner with flatmate!

Update 4

Hour 10 – 2:39 IST

Started reading Land of the Seven Rivers: A Brief History of India’s Geography by Sanjeev Sanyal

Page 41 of 352

Take on the Book – Easy to read for a layman. Shares interesting information about how Geography shaped the evolution of Indian History, though I do feel a very strong Right wing leaning! But then that may be nothing and I am only on Chapter 2 for now.

Snacks Update – Water/Milk and the much awaited English Shortbread

Note – Maybe last post of the night as really need to get some shut eye to be bright eyed and all active for remaining day tomorrow!

Update 5

Hour 15.5 – 8:00 IST

Woke up an hour back after napping for couple of hours. Finished early morning chores and now back in the “Reading Zone”!

Continuing with Land of the Seven Rivers: A Brief History of India’s Geography by Sanjeev Sanyal

Page 69 of 352

Take on the Book – Well researched. Provides Historic and scientific insights to keep the narrative grounded in facts. But still cannot quite overcome the feeling of Right wing leanings, especially since we all know facts can manipulated to prove anything! But still early in to the book to draw a firm conclusion!

Snacks Update – Masala Tea

View of the valley, which my apartment overlooks. This is what my balcony opens to & my favorite reading spot

Also because I missed the Mid -Event Survey, posted about 2 hours ago, on account of it being like 6:00 am and snooze time, I post the updates now –

Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now?

Land of the Seven Rivers: A Brief History of India’s Geography by Sanjeev Sanyal

2. How many books have you read so far?

1…I think speed reading is not my thing!

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?

The one I am currently reading!

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?

Some. Despite pre-planning people did call, though I managed to keep the conversations short!

5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?

The adrenaline! I never realized the rush one gets in this kind of break neck virtual club reading event!

Update 6

Hour 19 – 11:00 IST

I cannot believe I am feeling so very nostalgic about the up coming closure! I will so miss this event!!

Continuing with Land of the Seven Rivers: A Brief History of India’s Geography by Sanjeev Sanyal

Page 119 of 352

Take on the Book – Well researched. Some very intresting learnings. Like the Yezhedi Tribe in Iran shares common DNA with the North Indian population and that there seems to be a movement of this population not only from Iran to India but also back to India. Extremely well written descriptions of the epics connecting with current Indian fauna and flora, proving the possibility that the events of Ramayana and Mahabharata may have actually happened. The only take is, this is a well researched and well written history, the claim to geography remains limited to the two major highways that link India north and south and east and west, which have in operation since centuries.

A friend of mine shared this on Facebook and I think it sums my Readathon Sunday just perfectly!

Update 7

Hour 21- 13:52 IST

Boooohoooooo!! Someone make the time stop!!

Continuing with Land of the Seven Rivers: A Brief History of India’s Geography by Sanjeev Sanyal. Also started on The Book of Snobs by WM Thackeray for change in variety.

Page 147 of 352 for the former and Page 26 of 130 for later

Take on the Book – Land of Seven Rivers is getting better by the minute. Loving the rich historical and now significantly enriched geographical history that shaped the fortunes and lives of India, both land based and maritime. Loaded with facts and filled with some very interesting insights into the neglected everyday history of common man, I am at this point super impressed with the book . One of the best Historical reads in a long time. Thackeray is brilliant as always, but I will do a separate review for his book as part of my Victober Reading Update!

Snacks Update – Lunch – Grilled Fish

Update 8

Hour 24- 16:37 IST

This is the end, my friend!

Continuing with Land of the Seven Rivers: A Brief History of India’s Geography by Sanjeev Sanyal. Also read up The Book of Snobs by WM Thackeray for change in variety.

Page 278 of 352 for the former and Page 56 of 130 for later

Take on the Book – Land of Seven Rivers is the HIGHLIGHT of this reading event for me. Rarely am I ever so impressed with Indian Historians but Mr.Sanyal’s work is indeed quite good. In-depth research, an easy to read narrative, that mixes facts with some wonderful lesser known nuggets of history. For the first time, after many years of reading History, I had a sense of Ah! So that’s how that happened!! Having said that, the geography part of the book is limited. Its picks up and then loses the strain and does not quite fulfill the promise of a “geographic history”. There is of course a distinct right wing /nationalist twang to the book, but it is not a blind absolutely fundamentalist approach. It’s more of a belief system that kind of guides the narrative.

Couple of minutes left to start! I am all set at the starting line. Dewey’s Readathon, Bring it on!

Me, the obsessive control freak, has made a list and checked and double checked all items.

E-Book Reader Charged – Check

Snacks set and dinner plans in place – Check

Plenty of Water Bottles – Check

Good Music – Check

Have told Dad and all friends/relations not to call me till Sunday Evening – Check

Seems like I am all-ok to make SOME dent in my reading list!

I am kind of confused as to whether to read The Girl on the Train first or The Land of the Seven Rivers to kick start the event. I will fit in Dombey and Sons somewhere after that, before I am too exhausted and drop off before I know; Dickens clearly is not at his best in this one. I have kept Christie and Austen for the difficult hours (late night and afternoons) and New York and Jerusalem come in when I have revved up my engines well and all set for some ground breaking reading. Thackeray will provide a wonderful diversionary break! Well this is the plan! And now that I am almost there, a though comes to, what the hell was I thinking????

Oh! Well! To late to ponder over those philosophical conundrums. Let’s just plunge in with the Opening Meme –

1.What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

India, New Delhi to be exact!

2. Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

That had to be a toss up between The Land of Seven Rivers and New York

3. Which snack are you most looking forward to?

There are these absolutely melt in your mouth shortbreads that a dear friend from England sent me! That’s not only a motivation but also an indulgence!

5. If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?

I have read many many times through my life. But reading through 24 hours should be something else. Also I am really really impressed with all the one-world-cyber-cheering and supporting happening; from United States to the Nordics to Australia to closer home in New Delhi! This feeling is totally out of the world!

Ok….so here’s a discovery, well not really a discovery, more of declaration of a well known fact – I am completely and obviously crazy!! Yes, I am aware that many of you always thought so, but I guess I am pointing out the obvious!!

After an extremely stressful week at work, where I got less than cumulative of 28 hours of sleep, I am happy that the weekend is finally here! I have a lot of things to do including cleaning the house and getting some shopping done, which HAS to be done because next week is Diwali, the big festival of the Indians! I have some reading and blogging planned as well, but nothing out of the usual. I am all set and I have a plan and schedule for the two days, that is until I decide to casually scroll through Twitter and stumble on some comments by Brona and bam! all plans are in disarray and there is a whole new plan in place!

What am I ranting about you ask? I am referring to the bi-annual Dewey’s Readathon, which kick starts on Oct 24th 2016 at 8:00 AM EST which translates to 17:30 Indian Standard Time and for which, I hang my head in shame as I say this, I have SIGNED UP! The idea of course is to read non-stop or with mini stops for 24 hours straight! You can find the details and whats and hows here.

Yes, I can hear the “naturallys”, but come on, how can I pass up a reading event???!!? I will hold of the cleaning till Monday and I will negotiate the shopping time, opting for online stuff if need be. But participate I shall, even if I do not make it to the participant list, on account of signing up a bit too late!

Anyhow, now that my ranting and self motivation and self exoneration is over, let us proceed to matters of greater significance like, what shall we read? There are loads of suggestions on the website and after scrolling through quite a bit, this is what I came up with – a mix of many things!!

The Girl on the Train by Patricia Hawkes – am on page 62 as of today and shall attempt to finish via Readathon

New York by Edward Rutherford – This one is a chunkster and I have only waded to page 183 so far so, only approximately 680 [pages to go; but its historical fiction and Rutherford does write extremely gripping plots, so I am kind of kicked about it

Dombey and Sons by Charles Dickens – Yes, I am still struggling to finish this! Yes I know I am really dragging this out and yes! I do have every intention of finishing it!

The Book of Snobs by William Makepeace Thackeray – This combines well with with my Victober event and breaks the monotony of serious reading. Thackeray’s take on on people who look down on those considered as “socially inferior” should be interesting. Page count 143 per Kindle Edition

Land of the Seven Rivers: A Brief History of India’s Geography by Sanjeev Sanyal – Just because I am curious and because I need to variety while reading. Page count 352 per Kindle Editio

Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie – When the chips are down and interest flags, who but the brilliant Ms. Christie can keep us going! Look forward to keeping me going in this story of miscarriage of justice which I have for some reason never read before!Page count 286 per Kindle Edition

Jerusalem – A Biography by Simon Sebag Montefiore – It’s History, its Middle Eastern History and the first couple of pages are very very good! Page Count 628 of which I have read 94.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – You have to allow me one Austen to keep my spirits up towards the end when everything buzzes! I know the work by heart and I will glide through it when the going gets tough!

Now about the real time updates and such like, well I will update as I go along. I am not committing to an hour or two hours or any such frequency. More like when I need a break and when I want to wander around a bit! I will also try and be deligent and keep one and all updated on Twitter and Goodreads and make an honest effort to make the posts interesting and hopefully nail baiting!

That seems simple enough!! I should be well rested and bright eyes and bushy tailed come Monday, when another crippling work load comes crashing on my head!! In the meanwhile I hopeth, that I can convinceth Cleo and Brona to helpeth me through this task!! Guys – NEED HELP BADLY!!!!

Now that I have jumped, I will try and get some good sleep and ease in for the reading tomorrow so that come 17:30 IST, I really do set off!!

I have always been fascinated by Philosophy. Its not like I always understood the subject completely and I often struggled with many of its theories, but I could not let go of this wondering fascination I had on this subject. I absolutely loved my Political Philosophy classes during my Graduate School days; a great credit also goes to the brilliant professor who taught us this jaw breaking subject and I remember the multiple re-reads I did of Plato’s Republic to get a hang of it, which fortunately I did before I graduated! Very recently,I have trying to find the time and make the effort to re-connect again with this subject and I have started and made extremely slow progress with Bertrand Russell’s History of Western Philosophers and Albert Schopenhauer lies by my bed side book table urging me to pick it up and get going. Some critics even contend that Brother Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky is in fact fundamentally a philosophical treatise and as I read more, I have to agree.

In this kind of background, Cleo, my reading buddy and my fellow adventurer in all reading madness, came up with the idea of reading How To Think About Great Ideas by Mortimer J. Adler’s. Adler in his book, discusses 52 ideas ranging from a broad variety of subjects from Truth to Morality to Politics. The plan is to spend one week reading about one idea and then posting it a blog on the same. The chapters are not particularly long but they are tough!Now knowing how easy my life is, I did wrangle a promise from Cleo, that we pace it out and while we attempt to complete one subject a week, we may take longer. Good thing, I did, because I am already falling behind. However I have started on the first chapter and needless to say, I am finding my mind doing extraordinary gymnastics until it hurts. So even if I inch at a snail’s pace, I will see this through and hopefully at the end of the whole exercise have a more pandered and more educated mind!

As is usual in my case, I had planned to post a blog about something totally and completely different and instead I am posting this! It’s the festival season in India and I have been quite late in catching up with all the blogs but I finally did catch up and I found myself wondering what I would have answered on a particular post; and lo! Behold, Jane had actually tagged me, hoping I would do a similar post! Now Jane is one of those friends of mine who has introduced me to a number of unknown authors and we share a lot of similar bookish tastes, including a love for Victorian-Edwardian Literature and Golden Age of British Crime. Therefore, when she thinks I will enjoy writing a post, you can be rest assured I will be! Thus, without much further ado, I present to you, The Bookish Time Travel Tag! Originally created, by The Library Lizard, I was introduced to it naturally by Jane’s Post!

What is your favorite historical setting for a book?

This is a very difficult one since there are several periods of History that I love

The Gupta Dynasty (C.300 AD) in India – This is really going back in time but this was a defining moment in South Asian history – a time of great literature and arts. Kalidas wrote Abhijanashakuntalam and Meghduta. It was also an era in which one of the best commercial comedies and my personal favorite of Sanskrit was penned Mṛcchakaika by Sudraka.

King David’s Jerusalem – Don’t ask me for reasons, just that I have a double degree in Middle Eastern Politics and Israel has always fascinated me!

Elizabethan England – Amid the squalor and the dirt and the delicate balance of peace between Catholic and Protestants and discovery of new lands, there was brilliant works being penned by Shakespeare, Marlow and jaw breakers like Spenser’s The Faerie Queene (a book I struggleth with!)

Regency England, specifically the country side – I am devoted to Jane Austen and I love her portrayals of the rural country lives, divorced from the over the top Regency London and therefore the simple English countryside and plots around the manor born, is and will always remain my favorite!

Victorian England – How can I pass up an era of Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell, William Thackeray, Anthony Trollope, George Gissing, Lewis Carol, Robert Louis Stevenson, Author Conon Doyle, Elizabeth Barret Browning, Robert Browning, Christian Rosseti, Oscar Wilde, to name just a few! I think you get my drift!

Late British Raj in India (c. 1870s to 1940s) Also known as Bengal Renssiance, this period saw incredible development in making India a modern nation state and more especially in bringing women out of the “purdah”. The women started to get degrees in Literature, Science and medicine and began to take their rightful place in the world. Not all transition was easy nor was it completely smooth, but it was an epoch making time of Indian history. Some of the best of the Indian literature was penned during this era including Michael Madhusudan Dutta’s Meghnadh Bodh Kabyo (The Slaying of Meghnadh), Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Durgeshnandini, Rassundari Devi authored the first full-fledged autobiography in modern Bengali literature and was one of the first female authors of modern India to do so. Most importantly, this was the era of Rabindranth Tagore as he wrote masterpieces after masterpeices including Geetanjali, The Home and The World, Gora etc.

The Bloombury London – I do not like most of authors and their views of this set, however I cannot deny that this era and this intellectual movement, was changing the way we view modern literature and economics etc. It also included in its group the very humane John Mynard Keynes and the very sensitive E.M. Forster as well as other laudable like Virginia Wolfe, Lytton Strachey, Vita-Sackville West etc.

The World Wars – Simply to better understand what madness drives men to kill their fellow brothers and how small misunderstandings lead to deaths of hundreds and thousands all across the world!

Now that, this is done, I promise to be more concise with my other answers!!

What writer/s would you like to travel back in time to meet?

Again there are so many of them, but in keeping with my promise, I am limiting myself to three only –

I would love to meet Jane Austen and share a cup of tea with her as the country society meets and greets each other and hear her gentle satire and words of wisdom as one individual meets the other.

Rabindranth Tagore and travel with him through the streets of 1890s Calcutta and visit all those places which are now iconic but then just a places for the intellectuals to meet and discuss how to work better with the British Masters!

M.Kaye and walk with her through the streets of my city of Delhi in 1920s as we explore the old Delhi and Meherauli ruins, especially the latter before it became the current up market residential area. I would also love to visit the then summer capital of British India with her, Shimla and have lunch at the celebrated Wildflower Hall and visit the Governer’s House and do all the things the British did then , before it came back into fashion thanks to The Indian Summer!

What book/s would you travel back in time and give to your younger self?

I have to hang my head in shame and say “The Chronicles of Narnia” by C.S. Lewis when I was may be a 10-12 year old. I would have also loved to have read Margaret Kennedy in my 20s rather than waiting all these years. I also really wish I had started reading Emilie Zola a couple of years earlier, instead of waiting for so long to take up his books!

What book/s would you travel forward in time and give to your older self?

This one is a tough one simply because I keep thinking, and I have every intention of re-reading all most all the books I have loved through the years. But if I have to pick one and since I cannot pick one, I would say it has to be a toss-up between The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling and The Discworld Series by Sir Terry Pratchet. I think both of these two incredibly talented authors manage to remind us of what is truly important, with a gritty plot and humor!

What is your favourite futuristic setting from a book? E.g. Panem from The Hunger Game

I will have to skip this one! I am more of past/history person than a futuristic one!

What is your favourite book that is set in a different time period(can be historical or futuristic)?

Oh!! How in the world can I keep this answer short?????!!!! Let me try

The Far Pavillions and The Shadow of the Moon by MM Kaye

The Book Thief by Mark Zukas

The Conquer Series by Conn Iggulden

The War of Roses Series by Conn Iggulden

The Source by James Mitchner

London by Edward Rutherford

New Forest by Edward Rutherford

The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Finnigan

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Mila 18 by Leon Uris

Spoiler Time: Do you ever skip ahead to the end of a book just to see what happens?

No! Nix! Never!!

If you had a Time Turner, where would you go and what would you do?

There is sooooooo much to cover, I would not know where to start and where to end – I would naturally do all the things I mentioned in #Q2.

I would also love to visit Rueil and see Edward Manet paint the House in Rueil and The Garden Path in Rueil.

I would lIke to follow Sir Author Conon Doyle across the busy Victorian London as he helped clear the injustices against George Edalji and Oscar Slator.

I would for sure want to take a voyage to Middle East with Mark Twain as he wrote The Innocents Aboard and visit Yuguslavia, poised on the edge of World War II with Barbra West as she wrote her seminal Black lamb and the Grey Falcon.

And of course, I would want to walk the streets of Calcutta and Delhi with Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay and Ahmed Ali respectively, as the last vestiges of a great Hindu-Muslim syncretic culture practically disappeared forever into the horizon!

Favorite book (if you have one) that includes time travel or takes place in multiple time periods?

The Source by James Michener that cover the birth of Israel from 9831 BCE to 1963

London by Edward Rutherford that tells the story of the development of the city of London from the nascent beginning in 54 BCE to the current commercial hub of 2007

What book/series do you wish you could go back and read again for the first time?

The Conquer Series by Conn Igulden

1500 words and I am finally done!

I do not wish to obligate anyone to do this and I know we all have very busy lives, but there are some people whose posts and thoughts I would love to read and add more on to my TBR Stefanie @ https://somanybooksblog.com/

This was a wonderful post and it brought back a lot of memories of books that I would love to revisit. Naturally, I also added quite a few from Jane’s post to my TBR, but that’s what bookish blogs are about! J

October is HERE! Yes…October is REALLY HERE!! So what if it feels like I am inside a boiler and there are no winds with a hint of chill and no delicious smell of wood fire smoke signaling the onset of Winter, but October the calendar assures me is here! As most of you know I live only between October to March, the rest of the months are just a bid to survive somehow. Fall and Winter bring out the best in the geography I live in and being a Winter borne, I take it much more in my stride than the pelting merciless heat of the summer! Everything about this season is joyous….more festivals, more holidays, more travels and naturally the hope of new year and new beginning! But I am as always getting ahead of myself and I must stop and add, that this is an especially good season to get a big book, a comfortable blanket and a big cup of coffee/tea/Irish coffee and indulge in my most favorite work time – Reading (Reading cannot be a past time; I was born to read but am forced to work!)

My October Reading plans do not look very good, especially since I have HUGE left overs from September! But like I said, this is the season of more holidays, so heaven have mercy and I should be able to get through more, this month for sure! ( One’s gotta be Optimistic!) I was immensely proud of myself about not giving into the temptation and not going for Classic Club Spin #14. Just as I finished patting my back, I stumbled on Lauren’s blog and discovered the Victober and I was in before I knew the whats and hows. So while Classic Club would have been only 1 book added on to my tottering pile, I have now added 4. I have a IQ score that is tagged under the category of Superior, but when I do things like this, I feel somebody messed up the scoring for sure!! Anyhow I am in with 4 books written during the Victorian age for sure. I just need to quickly figure out what those books are and get going. Besides this additional load, I have the 12 Months Classical Challenge Reading Event and the theme is A Classic by a Female Author and I go with O Pioneer by Willa Cather. Because I know that reading a female author for the Victober is also a criterion, I will combine it with the Women’s Classical Reading Event and read a novel; just need to figure out what that novel is! Under my woefully neglected Reading England project I am planning to read Under The Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy covering Dorset. I read Hardy years back and I did not get him at all. Hopefully as a more mature individual I will find something to appreciate, but I am not holding out on that hope very strongly!!I also have to finish Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome as part of my September Reading England Project. (Yes! I am hanging my head in shame!)

Finally come my read alongs and they remain completely unchanged and thank fully I have added only one book, which is a matter of some rejoice! I will continue reading The Pickwick Paper Read Along and chase to catch up with Cleo in reading The Brother Karmazov’s by Foydor Dostoyevsky and Jane Eyer by Charlotte Bronte Read Along, the latter, hosted by Hamlette. I also am reading The Silk Road – A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan and Jerusalem, A Biography by Simon Sebag Montefiore from last month, but these two I am taking slowly and I think these two books will stretch to December! The only addition to this never ending pile is How to Think About the Great Ideas: From the Great Books of Western Civilization by Mortimer J Adler and again I have been tempted by Cleo to join this as well! To be very fair, I did not need much temptation!!!Thankfully, this too is a book that will stretch for week on ends and each chapter is small and adds to my never ending efforts to read and better understand the nuances of philosophy and concepts like Truth, morality etc!

Thats that then! So here’s to happy reading and some wonderful autumnal moments in October!!